Book Description

Excerpt from An Introduction to Historical Geology With Special Reference to North America It is the author's hope that this book may find a place as a class-book dealing with the historical geology portion of a one-year course in general geology, and that it may also serve as a text for special courses in historical geology. An elementary knowledge of what is generally comprised under dynamical and structural geology is presupposed. It is assumed that a proper amount of laboratory and field work will be pursued in connection with the text. It will be seen that more introductory space is devoted to a discussion of the broad fundamental principles of historical geology than is customary in text-books. The experience of the author has been that careful attention to these general principles at the beginning of the subject is well repaid in satisfaction to both teacher and student when the great events of earth history are taken up in regular order. A definite plan is strictly adhered to in the discussion of each period from the Cambrian to the Tertiary inclusive. Such definiteness of presentation, in spite of some objections which may be raised against it, should greatly aid the beginner, who must constantly compare periods and note the important changes in the evolution of both land-masses and organisms. The topical arrangements are such that any desired comparisons can be readily made. A plan of treatment, the same for both the Archeozoic and Proterozoic eras, permits a ready comparison of these two. By the very nature of the subject-matter, a somewhat more special method of discussion has been necessary for the Quaternary period. Important features are the summaries of Paleozoic and Mesozoic history which will aid the student in fixing in mind the salient points in the history of those two great eras. It is believed that the two tabular summaries-one of Paleozoic life and the other of Mesozoic life-will be helpful. Group by group and period by period, from the Cambrian to the Cretaceous inclusive, the principal evolutionary changes in organisms are brought before the student at a glance by the use of these tables. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.